When We Ruled: African queens and warriors Paula Akpan
Event details
Njinga Mbande. Nana Yaa Asantewaa. Makobo Modjadji VI. Ranavalona the First.
These queens and warriors ruled vast swathes of the African continent. They led, loved and fought for their kingdoms and people. They made decisions, good and bad, the impact of which can still be felt today. Yet, beyond the lands they called home, so few of us have ever heard their names.
Journalist and historian Paula Akpan will take you into the worlds of these powerful figures, revealing their stories and how they came to rule and influence the futures of their people. With reigns spanning pre-colonial Nigeria to the farming villages of Rwanda, the hills of Madagascar to apartheid South Africa, these rulers’ stories offer us fascinating insights into life in these regions.
Join Paula, author of When We Ruled: The rise and fall of twelve African queens and warriors, as she shows how societies thrived, expanded and fractured before colonial influence, while also exposing the deep scars colonisation left behind.
This event will take place live on Zoom Webinar. You will receive a link to join a couple of days before the event and a reminder an hour before. During the event, you can ask questions via a Q&A function, but audience cameras and microphones will remain muted throughout.
Book sales
You can buy copies of many of our speakers’ books from Fox Lane Books, a local independent bookseller and Festival partner. In some cases, author signed bookplates are available too.
This event is supported by the University of York’s Athena Swan Steering Group. Find out more about Athena Swan and equality, diversity and inclusion at the University of York.
About the speaker
Paula Akpan (she/her) is a Black British historian and writer who gained a distinction in her fully funded MA in Black British History and who has credits in Vogue, Teen Vogue, The Independent, Stylist, VICE, i-D, Bustle, Time Out London and more. She is a published essayist, having written an essay on Black women and community in the anthology Loud Black Girls (4th Estate Books, 2020) and another on Black British lesbians in The Queer Bible (HQ, 2021). This is her debut book.
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